History of the Library
The Taylor Institution was established in 1845 following the bequest of Sir Robert Taylor (1714-1788), the sculptor and architect, who left the residue of his estate to enable the creation of a foundation for the teaching of modern European languages in Oxford. The Institution and its Library originally occupied only the east wing of the neo-classical building designed by Charles R. Cockerell and erected between 1841 and 1844 by the University to house the Institution and the Randolph Galleries (now the Ashmolean Museum). An extension along St. Giles', designed by T.H. Hughes, was completed in 1938. Ever since the foundation of the University's Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages in 1903 the teaching and other activities of the Faculty have largely been centred on the Taylor Institution.
During the 1960s, the Slavonic and East European collections expanded into the adjacent building at 67 St Giles', pending the construction of a new library building. In the late 1970's, the administrative and academic staff transferred, with the Slavonic and East European library collections, to new quarters at 41-47 Wellington Square in the late 1970s, and this is where smaller classes and meetings are now held
A detailed description of the Library's history and historic collections was published in the Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände in Deutschland. Hrsg. von Bernhard Fabian. Hildesheim: Olms Neue Medien 2003.